Syrian Drug Enforcement Authorities (DEA) announced a series of drug seizures this week as part of what officials described as an intensified nationwide crackdown on narcotics. The Ministry of Interior said September 22 that the Anti-Narcotics Branch in Aleppo Governorate dismantled a trafficking network and confiscated about 100,000 pills intended for distribution in the city.
Two days earlier, the same branch uncovered a farm containing cannabis plants in Afrin, north of Aleppo, used in the production of hashish. The ministry reported that the crops were destroyed, the owner was arrested, and the case referred to judicial authorities. In a separate operation in Manbij, also in Aleppo countryside, officials said they seized a large cannabis farm after weeks of field monitoring.
Daraa Intercepts Captagon at Border
In Daraa, the local Anti-Narcotics Branch thwarted an attempt to smuggle nearly one million Captagon pills through the Nassib crossing on the Jordanian border. Authorities said the narcotics were concealed inside a shipment of soft drinks and destined for a Gulf state. The driver was arrested, and the truck impounded. The ministry emphasized in a statement that Syria “will not serve as a transit point for drug smuggling to neighboring countries.”
Jordanian officials also reported continued pressure on the frontier. On September 12, the Jordanian Armed Forces announced they had stopped two smuggling attempts from Syria’s eastern border. According to a statement, traffickers used balloons guided by improvised devices to carry narcotics, but border guards intercepted the shipments.
Operations in Deir Ezzor Expand Campaign
In eastern Syria, Internal Security Forces said they detained five men in Deir Ezzor countryside for drug and arms trafficking. A patrol in Hari, near Albukamal, arrested a prominent arms dealer, Kamal al-Jghaifi, and two associates following clashes. In Mayadeen, officers seized Captagon pills and narcotics in a separate raid.
The arrests were part of an ongoing campaign launched in mid-August with the Ministry of Defense. Col. Dharar al-Shamlan, Internal Security commander, told the press the plan would continue “until full security is achieved and the rule of law is established.”
Wider Effort to Dismantle Networks
The Ministry of Interior reported earlier this month that officers in Damascus seized 61 kilograms of cannabis, 725 grams of heroin and 4,700 Captagon pills in a single operation. Officials linked recent raids to ongoing anti-narcotics efforts to dismantle factories and warehouses once connected to the Assad regime and Hezbollah networks.
Security sources say this has contributed to a decline in smuggling attempts to Jordan and other neighboring states. However, they acknowledge that challenges remain along Syria’s borders with Lebanon and Iraq, where complex terrain and armed groups complicate enforcement.
The ministry said in its most recent statement that anti-narcotics units will continue “pursuing all those involved in smuggling and trafficking to protect the security and safety of society.”
